VERONICA MARS MOVIE!

That’s it. That’s all I’ve got.

THEY’RE MAKING A VERONICA MARS MOVIE!

I can’t even accurately describe how excited I am about this. . I LOVE this show. When it was still on the air, I was OBSESSED with this show. I would read marsinvestigations.net‘s roundtable reviews. I was lucky in that I got into the show right when the third season started. So I got to watch the first two seasons straight through. I still occasionally think about the show. What the characters would be doing. How the fourth season would have gone. Hell, I still occasionally read fanfiction.

THEY ARE MAKING A VERONICA MARS MOVIE!

And it was funded by fans. That is AWESOME. I’m a big fan of crowdfunding. I think it gives more power to creators, helps people know what kind of interest there is, allows fans to be directly involved and generates excitement.

Annoy tiny blonde one, annoy like the wind.

Hooray! A hug!

Here’s what goes through my mind:

Wait, what is this? Why’s this person coming towards me with their arms out? OH GOD! They want a hug, oh god oh god oh god. Ok, I can do this – arms out. Where I do put them? Diagonally? Around their neck? Their waist? Now we’re hugging. Am I hugging too tight? Does my breath stink? Do my armpits stink!? Am I sweaty? Oh, right, I should breathe. In and out, in and out. Man, now they know how fat I actually am! SUCK IT IN! When is it ok to move away? Do we sway a bit? Should I be patting their back? WHAT DO I DO?!

And this is why you’ll see me panic when someone tries to hug me.

Here’s the thing. While I appreciate what you’re trying to do and despite your rather professional sign with a pretty good tagline (“Compassion in Action”) you may want to consider moving locations. I think I speak for everyone when I say that setting up behind the skeevy strip club where I once saw a man peeing in the parking lot and the adult “bookstore” that looks sticky from the outside may not be the best choice. Especially when you’ve holed up in a windowless, corrugated tin shack that even a Fallout game wouldn’t subject its survivors to.

Best of luck,

Mal

A few weeks ago a friend on Twitter posted a picture of a book and said she was giving it a try. The book happened to be Dave Ramsey’s The Total Money Makeover. I asked her to let me know if it worked for her and that sparked a conversation about debt, budgets and a link to his website where some “baby steps” were listed out.

This is going to sound cheesy and lame but…this may have been a turning point for me. Something that may change my entire freaking life. Since then, I’ve started the baby steps and have started listening to the guy’s radio show. Now, I may not agree with his politics and occasionally he gets a little “Jesus-y” for my tastes, I feel like his financial advice is sound and so far, I’m doing well.

The weird thing is, I finally, after nearly 10 years, feel like I have control over my money. That I’m not drowning in debt with no way out. It feels good and it makes me want to gain control over other aspects of my life. I’m tired of letting life happen to me, I’m ready to start living it.

There are four major areas of my life I’d like to get on track, which I’ve listed below, and some goals I think will help me get there.

Finance

• Keep working down my debt
• Follow the rest of the baby steps

Work

• Read books and articles that will help me be a better asset to my company

Personal/Hobbies

• Write 500 words each day
• Knit for 10 minutes before bed
• Take steps towards moving to Canada to be with my boyfriend

School

• I’d like to further my education
• Once I have the money, take an online class

Obviously some goals can be implemented immediately – like the writing 500 words a day thing. Some will take some time, like school but it feels good to make some decisions about stuff. To have something to work towards. It’s time to finally believe that I won’t be who I want to be unless I make it happen.

Weekend Goals:

1. Car maintenance
2. Doctor’s appointment
3. Clean room
4. Donate books to Goodwill

Picture it, my character is leaving Whiterun – presumably to go do something worthwhile. You see that bow is equipped and ready, in case there’s trouble on the road. She makes her way across the gorgeous landscape, ready for adventure.

She stops. There’s something, something in the distance that has caught her eye. Could it be a dragon? Maybe a pack of wolves? Possibly a wandering bandit or giant?

Before you can make it out, she’s sprinting wildly, not bothering to hide her position! It must be wildly important for such carefree maneuvers. She stops, you see nothing of interest…did she scare off her prey?

Wait.

What is she…

Really?

That’s what all that was for? The running? The chase?

So she could pick some FLOWERS?

***AND SCENE***

That’s how I spend most of my time in Skyrim. When I start the game I full intend to go complete quests and kill bandits and stuff. But then I get distracted by flowers and bugs and hunting animals. Sometimes there’s a cool looking rock I want to check and I can’t just not mine that ore. I mean, come on! That iron could be useful. And by this time I’m near my carrying capacity and I have to go back to town to sell stuff and make potions. Luckily Whiterun is still in view since I don’t make it far.

It’s possible I may be missing the point.

Ah, the age-old question! A war to be fought on the battlefield of yarn! Who shall come out victorious? Which craft is better?

They’re both pretty rad, actually.

I learned to crochet when I was younger. My grandmother is an accomplished crocheter and from the time I was about nine until, well, now…I would pick crocheting back up, put it down, pick it up, etc. At some point in my childhood, I had attempted knitting but I didn’t know anyone who knew how so I gave it up (this was in the pre-youtube years…in the long, long ago).

Now that I’m older, wiser and have access to the internet, I decided to give knitting a try again. I’m not quite sure what pushed me in that direction, but here I am now. Blogging primarily about the craft and loving every minute of it. Frankly, it’s now my yarn craft of choice.

That’s not to say I won’t ever crochet anything ever again, from what I’ve read it’s far easier to make stuffed animals and the like with crochet and you can’t beat it for making larger items (afghans, etc). However, I pretty much suck at crochet. The issue I’ve always had is my inability to keep the correct number of stitches. No matter what I did I would either accidentally increase, decrease or both. I can’t tell you the number of scarves I started that ended up being Barbie skirts because they started to sharply decrease.

For whatever reason, it’s far easier for me to keep the correct number of stitches while knitting. I think it’s because the stitches stay on a needle and it’s far more obvious which stitch I go into next. And that works for me.

That being said, I still think crochet is awesome and definitely has its merits. I’ve made some sweet hats with it and 3/4 of a stuffed giraffe.

So, dear readers, which yarn craft do you prefer? Knitting, crocheting or both? Or none? I don’t know, you tell me!

However, I did receive some new yarn from Eat Sleep Knit yesterday and it’s AWESOME. It was the first time I’ve ordered through that website and I can’t recommend it enough. The pricing is reasonable, they offer free shipping with purchases over $75 and I ordered the yarn on the 26th and it was at my house on the 30th. And that was just their normal, cheap shipping option! I am super, SUPER impressed with the store and I will definitely order from them again.

So pretty!

I ordered two skeins of Manos del Uruguay – Maxima in the “Grapevine” colorway (hence the title, huh? Huh? Jokes people!) and I love it. The colors are gorgeous, the yarn is soft and I can’t wait to cast it on for a Christmas present. I’ve never worked with a single-ply worsted before, so I’m excited to see how it knits up! Expect a full review in the next few weeks!

Berroco Ultra Alpaca in Light Grey

Brand: Berroco

Type: Ultra Alpaca

Color: Light Grey

Weight: Worsted

Project: Irish Hiking Scarf

Rating: 5/5

Review: As I was re-reading through the Yarn Harlot’s blog, I came across the “Irish Hiking Scarf” and decided that would be a perfect project to knit for my boyfriend. I’d been wanting to knit him something for a while and had been thinking about a stocking cap but this scarf seemed like a great idea. I wouldn’t have to worry about it fitting and he lives in Canada, so anything to help him stay warm is a good idea.

Once I had that decided, I realized I didn’t really have any yarn that would work. The majority of my nice yarn is sock yarn and anything that wasn’t was in kind of girly colors. This warranted a trip to the yarn store by my work. After wandering around for ages and awkwardly squeezing yarn, I finally picked the Berroco Ultra Alpaca in Light Grey. It was soft and had yardage that meant I wouldn’t break the bank while making the scarf. I picked up two hanks and headed home to cast on.

Let me just say, this yarn is a delight to work with. The only worsted weight yarn I’ve really worked with so far, since starting this knitting adventure, has been acrylic. There’s nothing wrong with acrylic, but I just had never used any other fiber when it came to bigger projects. Dudes, the difference it’s been making. The yarn slips off my needles with no hassle while I’m knitting, there’s no tugging or struggling. The cables are showcased beautifully and the yarn is so soft and pleasant to handle. While I realize alpaca isn’t wool, I’m always worried about fibers being scratchy. I was worried that the halo of the yarn would end up being scratchy and irritating and there’s nothing worse than wearing something scratchy, but the fabric has knit up wonderfully. The color is awesome, a light grey but there are hints of darker greys and blacks in it as well which gives it a more complex color than something plain would have. Honestly, the yarn is great and I would definitely buy it again for other projects. Basically I want to make everything out of it – hats, scarves, maybe a sweater. If you get the chance to work with the yarn, definitely try it out. It’s not so expensive that one would balk at the price for a smaller project to see if the yarn works for you.

It’s overwhelming, I know! I’ve been where you are! Let me get some guidelines down for you.

A lot of knitters will tell you to go to a local yarn store or craft store and ask for help or sign up for a class. I am not one of these people as I am pretty shy in real life.

Here’s a list of materials I recommend you pick up. You don’t have to spend a fortune!

1. One pair of US size 10 (or larger) knitting needles. The bigger the needle, the bigger the loops and the easier it is to get the needle through those loops when you’re knitting. Also, I wouldn’t recommend getting the cheap aluminum needles. I’m not trying to be snobby but they tend to stick to the yarn and make it harder to get the loops off which can cause unnecessary headaches. If you do choose the aluminum (and who can blame you, they’re super cheap and you don’t know if you like knitting yet) just keep the stickiness in mind while your working with them!
2. One skein of yarn. Again, I’m probably going to come off like a snob here but let me explain. I don’t recommend getting the red heart super saver yarn. While it’s inexpensive, it’s also 100% acrylic and not the good, soft acrylic either (of which there is some). The issue with this yarn, I’ve found, is that it’s also super sticky and tends to not want to come off the needles. I also find it squeaky and it can hurt my hands. I’m not saying you should buy 100% cashmere or anything crazy but maybe look for something with some wool content or a higher quality acrylic. Don’t spend $20 on a skein but maybe look into spending $5 instead of $3. Also, be sure to get a yarn that’s rather thick – worsted weight or chunky. It’s easier to knit with larger needles and works up fast. Color doesn’t matter, but choose a yarn that you like. That’s the most important thing. If you’re working with a yarn that scratches you, or you hate the color, you’re not going to have fun.

That’s it! That’s all you need to get started. No books, patterns, expensive tools or crazy gadgets. I’m going to put a couple videos down at the bottom that helped me teach myself how to knit. They are super cheesy as they’re pulled from a dvd that was intended to teach teens how to knit but I have a hard time learning craft stuff from written instructions so this worked super well for me. Another great resource is VeryPink.com - she has way less cheesy videos and great quality in her instructions. I can’t recommend her correcting mistakes videos enough!

Finally, I just want to reiterate something that so many other knitters have said before me. Knitting isn’t as complicated as it seems. There are literally two stitches - knit and purl. Once you’ve got those down, you can do anything! Good luck and good knitting!